“Yeah, I do.” The answer came out as a dry laugh.
“What is it, Andy? What happened to her?” I asked, sinking down into a crouched position, my hands resting on my knees. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“It’s complicated,” he said, twisting his lips in thought. “If I tell you, you have to swear you won’t say anything. Not until…not until I’m ready.”
“I swear, Andy.” My heart thudded in my chest, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wasn’t dreaming. What was he talking about? What did he know?
He pushed himself up, pointing toward the woods behind the relaxation center. “Come with me.”
He was walking away before I had a chance to comprehend what he’d said, but I let the words wash over me. “Where are you going?”
No answer came as he continued to walk, headed around the far side of the building. And then, despite every muscle in my body screaming that I should turn the opposite way, despite a nagging voice telling me it wasn’t safe, I followed him.
And then, I disappeared, too.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nick
I was up by seven without prompting from Megan, my nerves on edge. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stay on the island. I waited on the porch for her, struggling to form thoughts around how worried I felt. I was used to being cool, collected, and in control, so this was entirely new and unwelcome for me.
I kept staring at the place where we’d found the body, just a few yards from where I was sitting. Emily was the first person I’d ever known to die. Both my parents, both sets of my grandparents even, were still alive. Her death shook me to my core, and having to sit around with nothing to do but think of it made it worse.
I wanted answers. I wanted to know the truth.
The sliding glass door opened and Megan walked out, her long hair tied back in a braid. She draped an arm over my shoulder, her lavender perfume surrounding me.
“You couldn’t sleep, either?”
I shook my head. I felt weak for caring so much. Emily meant nothing to me, and I was acting like I’d lost someone I’d known my whole life. I tried to reason that it was the shock of it all that had affected me, but I knew it was more than that. Everything just felt wrong about what had happened. Everything felt wrong moving forward, too.
“I can sleep fine, I’m just having trouble staying asleep for long,” I said.
“Same here.” She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked around me and took a seat in the empty chair to my left. “Is anyone else awake?”
“I haven’t seen anyone.” As soon as I said it, I heard a voice coming from one of the other huts. We turned our heads, staring out as Brad’s door opened and he peeked his head out. “Spoke too soon… Morning,” I called, waving a hand over my head. He looked terrible—his hair disheveled, eyes red and bloodshot.
“Mornin’, have you seen Laura?” he asked, wincing from the sound of his own voice.
“Long night?” I chuckled. “You look like hell.”
“I feel like it,” he agreed, reaching the side of the hut but not climbing up the stairs. “I was up most of the night drinking with Andy, and apparently I’m not twenty-one anymore. Who knew?”
“Did you ask if we’d seen Laura?” Megan asked, her voice filled with concern, reminding me of the question, too.
Brad nodded, rubbing the back of his head as he stared off down the coastline. “Yeah, she went for a jog an hour ago. I thought she’d be back by now.”
I stood up, placing my hand over my eyes and staring out into the blinding, rising sun. “Did she say where she was going?”
“You know Laura. She likes to run when she’s stressed…which is an understatement for all of us right now. She may have just run farther than I expected.”
“Maybe she is just planning to meet us for breakfast instead,” Megan offered. “If she finished her jog around the time we usually meet for breakfast.”
Brad didn’t look too sure. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Let me grab my shoes, and we’ll go check. Did you check on Jaren and Natasha? Maybe they’ve gone up to breakfast already and she met them?” I said, standing up.
“I didn’t think of that. I’ll check and see if they’re still home,” Brad said. “Meet you right back here.” With that, he jogged toward the last hut, while Megan and I made our way inside and slipped on our shoes and brushed our teeth.
A few minutes later, we walked back outside. Brad was waiting for us in front of the hut. “You could be half right. Natasha and Jaren are just waking up, but Andy wasn’t in his hut. Maybe he met Laura, and the two of them are already waiting for us at the pavilion. I told Jaren we’d meet them up there.”
“Sounds good,” I said, feeling relieved of my fear as I realized Laura and Andy were likely together. I pulled the door closed behind us, and together we headed toward the relaxation center.
After a few moments of walking in silence, Megan let out a weighted breath. “Well, at least Andy’s up and out of bed, right? On his own. That has to be progress.”
Brad nodded. “I hope so. He was in bad shape last night.”
“Poor guy. First girl he actually seems to care about, and this happens…” I clicked my tongue thoughtfully. “What do you even say to someone dealing with something so…big?”
“You say that you’re there for them,” Megan said. “That you love them and you’ll be there for them no matter what.” She slid her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. “I hope the police come today. I think it’ll give him some finality. It just feels weird, knowing they’re just keeping her body here.” She shivered, and I saw the hairs on her arms stand up with
